Sekiro Lady Butterfly Boss Guide: How To Beat The Illusionist

All the bosses of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice are pretty tough, but Lady Butterfly represents a significant change of pace when you encounter her in Hirata Estate. She’s a brutally fast boss who deploys ranged attacks against you, and who has some illusion-based tricks up her sleeve that are tough to deal with.

You’ll find Lady Butterfly at the end of the Hirata Estates level. The fight is broken into two parts, so note that while you might pull off a deathblow on her, she’s not down for the count. The second part of the fight sees Lady Butterfly up the ante significantly with new moves and faster attacks, so you’ll need to be on your game with your deflections to survive. But the most effective way to take her down is with consistent attacks that get under her guard.

Read on to find everything you need to know to defeat Lady Butterfly below and in the video above, including where to find some items that’ll give you an edge against her and her illusions. We’ve got lots more Sekiro guides for your perusal as well, including ones on where to find key early-game prosthetics, and how to beat Juzou the Drunkard, the Chained Ogre, and the Blazing Bull.

Whittle Down Her Vitality

Lady Butterfly is made of heartier stuff than the enemies you’ve faced before her. You can’t break her Posture just by outfighting her–at least, not at first. You’ll need to damage her Vitality some or she’ll keep quickly recovering Posture, and you’ll never be able to break her guard. To do that, you need to get some attacks through her defenses. The best way is to parry some of her close-range attacks, then follow up with a quick counter of your own. You can also watch for her to jump into the air on her wires and come down with a Perilous attack. You should be able to easily retreat from the attack or dodge backward to get clear of it, and it leaves her open to a few blows before she goes back on the offensive.

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Pack Your Shuriken

When Lady Butterfly hops up into the air, she’ll usually come at you with some deadly kicks or knife-throws. This is actually a solid opportunity to deal some damage to her Vitality and Posture and get in close for a few quick blows as well. Throwing a Shuriken while Lady Butterfly is jumping through the air (and not standing on a wire, specifically) can knock her back to the ground, leaving her very vulnerable to a follow-up attack. You might want to let her try to pull her Perilous air attack, since you can generally dodge it easily and get some strikes in afterward, but knocking her out of the air with Shuriken is highly effective. We’ve got all the prosthetics and where to find them in our guide.

Block Her Ranged Attacks

Lady Butterfly is different from most other bosses you’ve seen so far, in that she’ll stand back and throw blades at you from time to time. These can be blocked and deflected, but only if you see them coming, so keep your guard up. She’ll often throw blades before coming in for a close-range attack, too, so keep an eye out for deadly patterns that start with incoming knives.

Dodge Close And Strike

You’ll find that Lady Butterfly is sometimes a bit slow on realigning to catch you if you dodge to the sides of some of her attacks, especially her kicks. That means you can stay close and get in extra attacks, especially in the first phase of her fight. Be careful not to overextend yourself in attacks, but if you can get in a few deft slices, dodge again, and slice a few more times, you can do a lot of damage very quickly and make the fight a lot easier on yourself.

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Fight The Apparitions

Once you’ve dealt a deathblow to Lady Butterfly, you’ll enter the second phase of the fight, in which she brings ghostly apparitions out to battle you. These guys aren’t especially deadly, but there are a lot of them, and they can be very distracting as Lady Butterfly goes running around, attempting to hit you. The good news is, you can drop ghosts immediately with Shuriken at range or with one hit from your sword, and they’ll usually drop Spirit Emblems if you need some.

The trouble is, eventually Lady Butterfly will turn the apparitions into spectral butterflies, which can track you and deal damage even through your block. The more apparitions on the screen when she summons the butterflies, the more you’ll have to deal with. You have a few options for dealing with these. The first is to let the butterflies come, and stand close behind a wooden beam to let them slam into that, instead of you. You can also sprint, since the butterflies have a harder time tracking you if you run around the room.

You can also clear the apparitions with Snapseeds. You’ll get one of these from a samurai just outside of Lady Butterfly’s room; more can be found in Underbridge Valley (our guide can show you where). Stand close to the apparitions and use the Snapseeds to make them disappear, without forming any butterflies. Note that you’ll need to be close, since the Snapseeds produce a wave around your body, and it won’t be effective when you’re farther away.

Learn The Butterfly Attacks

In the second half of the fight, Lady Butterfly will sometimes summon spectral butterflies to attack you in the middle of her own attacks. You’ll want to incorporate more dodging into your repertoire to avoid them. If you see her summon four butterflies–first a group of two, then two more–know that she’s about to come at you hard with a series of attacks that ends with an unblockable Perilous onslaught. It’s not too tough to deal with once you’ve seen it once or twice, but the best way to handle this is to dodge back away from Lady Butterfly early to avoid the butterflies, then get your guard up for the rest of the blows. Finish by jumping over the Perilous attack and bouncing off Lady Butterfly’s head to do some Posture damage.

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Sekiro Headless Boss Guide: Locations And Rewards

After encountering and killing your first Headless in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, you’ll likely have felt a wave of exhilaration. But like all great threats, it doesn’t stop at once. That’s right, there’s actually multiple Headless in the game. And if you’ve taken it upon yourself to eliminate every single one, you’re likely going to need help finding them all.

Below we detail the locations of each of the Headless, but if you’d like more a visual reference, refer to our guide video above (coming soon). We also highlight the rewards you get upon successfully vanquishing them. However, if you need help defeating Headless of any kind, be sure to check out our guide on how to take one down. We’ve also got plenty more guides for Sekiro, including a rundown of where to find every Shinobi Prosthetic, 14 tips to stop dying so much, and how to beat the Chained Ogre, Jozou the Drunkard, and the Blazing Bull.

Ashina Outskirts

This is probably the first Headless you’ll meet; there are two ways to get to it. The Ashina Outskirts Stairway Sculptor’s Idol will take you down one of these paths, past the Chained Ogre, and into the Pit area where you can normally press onward towards the Underbridge Valley. Instead of going this direction, take a right where you’ll notice the cryptic sign pinned to a wall. Grapple ahead onto a few tree branches overlooking the cliff and you’ll see an area with markings indicating there is a ledge you can grip onto. Jump down from your branch and land on the ledge and shimmy your way over to solid ground. You’ll find a tunnel that you need to crouch through, and the tunnel will grow suspiciously dark where a lone light can be seen that upon closer inspection is the blade of the Headless.

The other route to the same exact Headless starts from the Shugendo Sculptor’s Idol near the Demon Bell in Senpou Temple, which will have you journey past a small tunnel into a building with a burnt outline of a person against the wall. This is actually a secret trap door that you can access by hugging the wall and fitting your character into the outline which will grant you passage into a dark tunnel into the Ashina Outskirts. If you have this idol unlocked, this path may be the quicker option if you need to attempt the mini-boss multiple times.

Reward: Ako’s Spiritfall – “Fallen headless spirit of Ako that increases Vitality and Posture Damage for a time, Consume Spirit Emblems to use repeatedly. Headless are the ruined form of corrupted heroes who once fought for their country. Seize the power of an inhuman spirit by laying it to rest, but risk going quite mad unless something is offered in return.”

Ashina Depths

This Headless is located in the Ashina Depths and is hidden by the mist. We suggest taking this one on after you’ve defeated the Mist Noble boss, which clears the area of any spirits and mist, allowing you to focus solely on the Headless. To get to it, simply grapple from the buddha statue and drop below to the Hidden Forest.

Reward: Gachiin’s Spiritfall – “Fallen, headless spirit of Gachiin. Suppresses sound and presence, making the user harder to detect, Consume Spirit Emblems for use repeatedly. Headless are ruined form of corrupted heroes who once fought for their country. “I’m falling to pieces,” said the man to himself, drifting deep into the forest.”

Ashina Castle Tower Lookout

First and foremost, this Headless requires the Mibu Breathing Technique Latent Skill to reach. You can find this one by going near a pool of water close to a bridge by the Old Grave Idol. Dive underwater and you’ll be lead right to it.

Reward: Ungo’s Spiritfall – “Fallen headless spirit of Ungo that reduces Vitality damage taken from physical attacks. Consume Spirit Emblems for use repeatedly. Headless are ruined form of corrupted heroes who once fought for their country. This warrior lost his mind in defense of the state. His attempted mutiny was met with a swift beheading, and the lifeless body sunk to the bottom of the moat.”

Sunken Valley

From the Under-Shrine Valley Sculptor’s Idol you will want to grapple across a chasm that you will see, and continue through some platforming before needing to hug a wall and gradually make your way across the corresponding ledge. Next to that you’ll find a small pool of water that you can dive into that’ll lead you to a cave to a Headless. It should be noted that to fight this particular Headless also requires the Mibu Breathing Technique Latent Skill.

Reward: Gokan’s Spiritfall – “Fallen, headless spirit of Gokan. Reduces posture damage taken for a time. Consume Spirit Emblems for use repeatedly. Headless are ruined form of corrupted heroes who once fought for their country. Dedicated burial mounds quietly appease the spirits with several heads, though none call upon them for long.”

Fountainhead Palace

This last Headless location is in the Fountainhead Palace, and there’s actually two. You can find them them near the big pool of water past the Flowerhead Sculptor’s Idol. One may even appear to be a bit more non ethereal, and in our experience, killing the non-ethereal Headless first caused the second to disappear, so we suggest prioritizing that one.

Reward: Yashariku’s Spirtfall – “Fallen Headless spirit of Yashariku. Briefly sacrifice max Vitality and Posture while gaining a large Attack Power Boost. Consume Spirit Emblems to use repeatedly. Headless are ruined form of corrupted heroes who once fought for their country. This brave soul’s twin was lost in utero. He may not have fallen to the palace nobles had his sibling been at his side…”

Sekiro Headless Boss Guide: How To Beat Them And What Divine Confetti Does

To those who did not heed the cryptic warning near the Underbridge Valley of the Ashina Outskirts in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, you probably found yourself in for quite the surprise. The notorious and enigmatic mini-boss known as the Headless makes its home in a nearby cave and the first time you clash swords with him might have left you feeling dejected and possibly outright confused.

If you’re eager to test your mettle against this mini-boss, we’ve got all the tips you need in this handy guide. We’ve also got plenty more guides for Sekiro, including a rundown of where to find every Shinobi Prosthetic, 14 tips to stop dying so much, and how to beat the Chained Ogre, Jozou the Drunkard, and the Blazing Bull.

How To Beat A Headless

The hardest yet most satisfying way to defeat a Headless is to parry all his attacks. However, he’s a bit more tricky because some of his moves are slower than most enemies, and it’s difficult to dodge or maneuver to run around with the fog that manifests around him.

The best way to defeat a Headless is to use Divine Confetti, which greatly stacks their posture. It can even break the fog spell if you hit him enough times; though, it will recast fog after a time. Of course, Divine Confetti is somewhat of a limited commodity, so make sure to use them wisely. We recommend taking out the Headless’ first life bar normally and then using Divine Confetti to easily destroy their second life bar.

Understanding a Headless’ various attacks is key to dispatching them, but its surprise attack after performing a big sweeping attack can be a nuisance. The best advice we can give is to try not to get trapped in a corner after the Headless performs a sweep or it’ll be tough to escape its devastating rear attack; as long as you’re facing in the direction it’s coming from, it won’t be able to grab you. Another method to deal with this is jumping away after its sweep in order to give yourself some distance and time to reorient and prepare.

One final tip would be to have Pacifying Agents on hand or to make sure to buy the Mottled Purple Gourd, which helps reduce terror build up and also helps remove terror–a status ailment that likely killed you the first time you tried doing this all by yourself. These items can be purchased from the merchant near the Mibu Village Sculptor’s Idol.

How To Defeat Underwater Headless

This might sound ridiculous, but there are Headless you can fight underwater too. Don’t be intimidated by them, as they’re actually quite easy to defeat compared to their landlocked brethren. Simply watch out for its two ranged attacks–one being a wave projectile and the other homing missile-like projectiles. When you see these coming at you, sprint swim to get in close to do some damage. Again, Mottled Purple Gourd or Pacifying Agents are helpful in preventing Terror.

Watch out for the one big sweeping attack it does, which is followed up by a big vacuum vortex it charges up that can wreck you pretty bad. But won’t worry, this attack is pretty easy to avoid and it’s actually a great opening for you to inflict a good three to four swings. With only one life bar to deplete, the underwater Headless should be no problem for you, especially if you’ve already mastered defeating normal Headless.

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EA Lays Off 350 People, Citing The “Changing World”

Despite the gaming industry’s growth, we’ve seen numerous companies lay off employees of late, including significant ones at Activision Blizzard. Electronic Arts is the next company to confirm layoffs of its own, announcing today that about 350 people are losing their jobs.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson delivered the news via the company’s official website. “Today we took some important steps as a company to address our challenges and prepare for the opportunities ahead,” Wilson said. Of the company’s roughly 9,000 employees, 350 people across the company’s marketing, publishing, and operations teams will lose their jobs. This also includes operations in Japan and Russia, where the company is “ramping down our current presence [to] focus on different ways to serve our players in those markets.”

You can read his full statement below:

Today we took some important steps as a company to address our challenges and prepare for the opportunities ahead. As we look across a changing world around us, it’s clear that we must change with it. We’re making deliberate moves to better deliver on our commitments, refine our organization and meet the needs of our players. As part of this, we have made changes to our marketing and publishing organization, our operations teams, and we are ramping down our current presence in Japan and Russia as we focus on different ways to serve our players in those markets. In addition to organizational changes, we are deeply focused on increasing quality in our games and services. Great games will continue to be at the core of everything we do, and we are thinking differently about how to amaze and inspire our players.

“This is a difficult day. The changes we’re making today will impact about 350 roles in our 9,000-person company. These are important but very hard decisions, and we do not take them lightly. We are friends and colleagues at EA, we appreciate and value everyone’s contributions, and we are doing everything we can to ensure we are looking after our people to help them through this period to find their next opportunity. This is our top priority.”

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Red Dead Redemption 2 Online Update Adds Target Races And More

Rockstar has rolled out another new batch of content for Red Dead Redemption 2‘s multiplayer mode, Red Dead Online. Ahead of the major update that’s coming later this spring, the developer has added an assortment of new clothing options to the game, along with a new competitive mode: Target Races.

Rockstar describes Target Races as “a fast-paced mix of marksmanship, strategy, and horse-riding skills.” Players begin each race equipped with a bow and arrow, with the object being to shoot targets as you dash through the track. Along the way, you’ll also be able to pick up guns with limited ammo and other power-ups, which you can use to shoot the targets or other players.

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In addition to standard Target Races, PS4 players now have early access to Open Target Races. This variation has you racing about an open environment shooting targets. These can be picked off in any order, and once you’ve hit all of them, you’ll race against the other players in a mad dash to the finish. Thanks to Rockstar’s timed exclusivity agreement with Sony, Open Target Races are only available on PS4 right now, but they’ll come to the Xbox One version next month.

On top of the new modes, Rockstar is giving players 20% more XP in all activities this week, while all horse care items are 25% off. The developer has also added a new selection of clothes to purchase. The full list includes:

  • Morning Tail Coat
  • Strickland Boots
  • Bowyer Boots (Female only)
  • Furred Gloves

Rockstar has more new content in the pipeline for Red Dead Online this year, including two more Showdown modes called Up in Smoke and Plunder. On top of that, the developer will add a hostility system to help combat griefing this spring, as well as new Land of Opportunities missions, more Free Roam missions, dynamic events such as ambushes and rescues, and more